Who said there isn't bad blood at Spring Training? The Nationals and Cardinals sure disagree. During a game earlier Monday, the two teams' benches were cleared after a series of events that culminated in former National Miguel Batista nailing Ian Desmond with a pitch.
That all came after Nyjer Morgan, who drew the Cardinals' ire last year for running over Brian Anderson, brushed Albert Pujols while running to first base. Chris Carpenter then hit Laynce Nix with a pitch, to which Livan Hernandez responded by plunking (purposely, he said) Colby Rasmus in the stomach. Once Batista nailed Desmond, it was on.
Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post described the scene.
Nyjer Morgan - who may have instigated the whole thing last summerwhen he ran into catcher Bryan Anderson - was the first one hopping out of the dugout for the Nats. Coach Trent Jewett, who knows Morgan from their days together in the Pittsburgh minor league system, put his arm around Morgan and led him far, far from the scrum.
There were apparently no punches thrown. The most demonstrative person was Manager Jim Riggleman, who screamed at Tony La Russa with an index finger protruding. His point seemed to be that each team had hit one batter and that things should have been settled at that. Desmond tried to speak with La Russa, again as if he wanted an explanation.
Batista got ejected, everyone simmered down for the time being and nobody was hurt. So instead, can't we just focus on the line of the day from Ian Desmond (via Kilgore).
Ian Desmond on getting hit by Miguel Batista: "Miggy throws like Miss Iowa, anyway." #Nats #Cards
Perfectly said. Now, let's move on and laugh about this.